Gold and Fizdale Perform Bowles and Poulenc

The compositions of Paul Bowles have been presented here a few times, notably in an M-G-M LP combining his music with that of Peggy Glanville-Hicks.

In today's post, his work is mated with a composition by Francis Poulenc. The source is a Columbia LP presenting two works commissioned by duo-pianists Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale.

For this post, in addition to the LP, I've added an early Concert Hall 78 set containing a Bowles sonata, also written for and performed by Gold and Fizdale.

Bowles - A Picnic Cantata

The main work on the Columbia album is "A Picnic Cantata," Bowles' setting of a poem by his contemporary, James Schuyler.

Paul Bowles, 1946

In the poem, four women make plans for a picnic, drive to Hat Hill Park, discuss its namesake (Henry Hat), then look into the Sunday newspaper, particularly the garden section. The protagonists are in turn robotic and dreamy. ("We can't go on a picnic/without ketchup and a car./Have you got a car?/You are in my car./So we are.") In a droll turn, the most colorful section of the poem comes not from a description of the park but from reading an ad for flowers - "tulips in balanced color,/flame pink, shaded rose,/glowing orange, shaded yellow". Similarly, the sole conflict in the poem is found not among the participants but in the newspaper's advice column. The friends do become reflective on the way home - "Is the evening star/Venus or Mars?/I see it set/in the peal of the moon,/a bit of ice/in an iced-tea sky."

James Schuyler by Fairfield Porter

As you can tell, I am taken with the Schuyler poem, and the setting by Bowles is entirely apt. It's been said that the work was inspired by Virgil Thomson's opera Four Saints in Three Acts, with libretto by Gertrude Stein, and there's that.

Gloria Davy as Aida

Bowles was a protégé of Thomson. The producers went so far as to cast three vocalists from the 1952 revival of Four Saints - sopranos Gloria Davy and Martha Flowers and contralto Gloria Wynder. The other singer was mezzo Mareda Gaither, who had recently been in Earl Robinson's Sandhog. Also participating in the recording was percussionist Al Howard.

The members of the vocal ensemble all had successful careers. Perhaps the most notable was Gloria Davy. In 1958, she was first Black artist to perform the role of Aida at the Metropolitan Opera. The download includes a lengthy New York Times obituary for her.

Poulenc - Sonata for Two Pianos (1953)

Francis Poulenc

Poulenc wrote two sonatas for duo pianists, among his many keyboard compositions. A Sonata for Piano Four Hands from 1918 had been recorded by Gold and Fizdale in 1953. This Sonata for Two Pianos, written in that same year, was commissioned for the pair.

A word about the artists: Arthur Gold (1917-90) and Robert Fizdale (1920-95) met at Juilliard and formed a lifelong partnership. They premiered a long list of works, including three by Poulenc and four by Bowles, as well as works by Germaine Tailleferre, Samuel Barber, John Cage and Vittorio Rieti.

Bowles - Sonata for Two Pianos

Arthur Gold and Robert Fizdale, 1952

Among the works commissioned by Gold and Fizdale was the 1946-47 Sonata by Bowles. The transfer of this angular work comes from an early 78 rpm release on Concert Hall that I remastered from a lossless needle drop on Internet Archive. The sound is good enough, although there is some discoloration on the characteristically ringing tone of the pianists.

The download includes the usual restored front and back LP covers (with the text of "A Picnic Cantata"), label scans, photos and High Fidelity and Billboard reviews of the LP. I've also included an excellent New York Review of Books article, "So Why Did I Defend Paul Bowles?" by Hisham Aidi, which discusses the relation between Bowles and Tangier, where the composer-writer lived for many years. (The earlier post mentioned previously includes Peggy Glanville-Hicks' settings of Bowles' "Letters from Morocco.")

I do like the cover of the LP above, with all participants stuffed into a jitney for the trip to Hat Hill Park, except for the composer, who is buzzing by in a streamlined mini-car. I assume this signifies that Bowles was not on hand for the April 1954 recording session.

'All the Way' with Sammy, Plus Bonus Singles

I haven't featured Sammy Davis, Jr. here much before, so I hope today's post makes amends. It includes his 1958 LP All the Way . . . and Then Some! with a substantial bonus of nine relatively rare single sides, also from Davis' time at Decca.

I transferred the LP for my friend John Morris, who is assembling all Sammy's recorded output. I then added the singles from lossless needle drops on Internet Archive that I remastered.

My previous Davis post involved his brief contribution to a PanAm promotional LP.

All the Way . . . and Then Some!

In the time-honored record company practice, the title of this LP is different from front cover to back cover to liner notes to label. (That's OK, I'm not entirely consistent myself.) I'm going with the front cover title, with standard capitalization.

The LP consists of the usual 12 tracks, assembled from six 1957-58 recording session with five different arrangers - Morty Stevens, Sonny Burke, Dick Stabile, Russ Garcia and Jack Pleis. In other words, it's not the sort of cohesive entity that Davis' great friend Frank Sinatra was putting out at the time. Usually when this is the case with an LP, the tracks are collated from previously released singles. But all of these songs were first issued on this LP and contemporary EPs.

I don't mean to signal that it's a bad record - far from it. Davis was almost as engaging on record as he was on stage - and he was famed as one of the world's greatest live entertainers. That said, it's hard to convey Sam's multiple talents on record - dancing, playing drums and trumpet, impressions and comedy along with the singing. But Davis did incorporate his gift for mimicry onto the occasional record, to the extent of producing an All Star Spectacular of impersonations for Reprise in 1961.

This particular LP starts off, in fact, with a credible impression of Frank Sinatra singing his then-current hit, "All the Way." After finishing the song, "Frank" dismisses conductor Nelson Riddle with the wish that he "sleep warm" (the title of a Sinatra-Riddle single and LP track). Davis then enters in his own voice and asks Frank to leave the band behind so he can do his own version of the song - which is more uptempo.

The LP follows "All the Way" with "Look to You Heart," a Sinatra song from several years earlier. Davis then leaves the Voice's repertoire behind in favor of an unlikely resurrection of Jane Powell's "Wonder Why" from the 1953 film Rich, Young and Pretty. It's good!

The balance of the songs are standards, with the possible exception of 1934's "Stay as Sweet as You Are," a Revel-Gordon tune from College Rhythm. As usual, Davis is effective whether in lyric or swinging mode.

Sammy Davis and Eartha Kitt in Anna Lucasta

The recording of the first track here ("They Can't Take That Away from Me") took place just as Mr. Wonderful, the Broadway show that had been written for Davis, was closing in February 1957. The last song recorded was "All the Way" in May 1958, after which Davis left for California and a starring role in the film Anna Lucasta, opposite Eartha Kitt. Later that year, he was Sportin' Life in the film version of Porgy and Bess.

Decca Singles

Unlike the LP's material, the songs from the singles are largely unfamiliar. I chose singles that the online Davis sessionography says haven't had an official re-release.

First up is "The Red Grapes," a Ross Bagdasarian tune. This recording, from a 1954 session, came after Bagdasarian's first big success as a songwriter, "Come on-a My House," but before his hits with "Witch Doctor" and the "The Chipmunk Song." Sy Oliver is the maestro for the Sammy single.

The four succeeding songs, all dating from 1955, are directed by Morty Stevens. "A Man with a Dream" comes from Victor Young's short-lived Broadway musical Seventh Heaven. Next are two duets with Gary Crosby - "Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive" and "Beat Me Daddy Eight to the Bar," the Ray McKinley specialty. Sam and Gary have no special chemistry, but the results are not unpleasant, and Sammy manages to work in an excellent Louis Armstrong impression. These are the only two records that Crosby and Davis made together.

Frank and Sam

The final song from 1955 is notable as a Jimmy Van Heusen-Sammy Cahn song written for Sinatra that Frank never released. It is "The Man with the Golden Arm," a title song manque for the film of the same name that starred Sinatra. The music for the film was by Elmer Bernstein and was superb. The Van Heusen-Cahn song was designed as a promotional song for the film. Frank recorded it, but it went unreleased until the 90s. Odd - it's a good song, and Davis does it beautifully, a few intonation problems aside.

Mr. Wonderful: Olga James, Sammy Davis, Chita Rivera

As 1956 began, Davis was preparing the Broadway show that was built around his talents, Mr. Wonderful, which opened in March and ran for nearly a year. In the run-up to the opening, Decca had him record the Jerry Bock-Lawrence Holofcener-George David Weiss songs from the score, including "Jacques d'Iraque." This take is different from the one that appeared on the cast album. Morty Stevens - who also did some of the arrangements and conducted the Broadway show - is again the leader of the band.

Peter Cadby's "'Specially for Little Girls" is a sensitive song done beautifully by Sammy with Sy Oliver conducting. At about this time, Cadby scored a children's film sponsored by the American Jewish Committee. This song may be from that film.

"Good Bye, So Long, I'm Gone" and "French Fried Potatoes and Ketchup" are the final two songs in this set, both from May 1956. They are essentially R&B numbers that David handles very nicely, particularly the latter item, which also was done by Amos Milburn for Aladdin. Sy Oliver is again in charge of the band.

The sound both on the LP and the singles is more than adequate.

Musical Comedy Favorites from Kostelanetz

Andre Kostelanetz made quite a living by playing and recording popular classical music and classy popular music. This was true even in the early years of his recording career, when he provided eager listeners with albums of the best songs in sumptuous arrangements and plush recordings.

Musical Comedy Favorites, Vol. 1 (1946 cover)

Today's LP is an example, bringing together two of his earliest Columbia 78 sets - Musical Comedy Favorites Vol. 1 and 2, dating from 1940 and 1941-2. In 1949, soon after introducing the long-playing record, Columbia combined the two eight-selection albums on this LP, which remained in the catalog throughout the mono era.

Musical Comedy Favorites, Vol. 2

Kostelanetz (1901-80) was born in Russia. He came to the U.S. following the Russian Revolution, and soon began conducting in the nascent radio industry. He had his own broadcast in the 1930s, which led to a Victor record contract. By the late 30s he had moved to Brunswick and then its successor, Columbia.

Kostelanetz conducts in 1942. Albert Spalding is the soloist.

Kostelanetz's first album for his new label was a Victor Herbert collection, followed by the first selection of Musical Comedy Favorites. The latter contains songs by Porter, Kern, Gershwin, Rodgers, Youmans, and Arthur Schwartz, leading off with Porter's "Begin the Beguine," a massive hit for Artie Shaw a few years earlier.

Irving Berlin with Kostelanetz, 1950

Musical Comedy Favorites Vol. 2 repeats the formula with the same composers, adding a contribution from Noël Coward ("I'll See You Again").

Both albums slightly predated the so-called golden age of the musical, and some of the greatest songs of Berlin, Rodgers and Porter, along with the entire output of Loesser, Lane, Bernstein, Sondheim and many others. Even so, the songs in Kostelanetz's collections are familiar even today, at least to those who are devotees of the "Great American Songbook."

Also during the early 1940s, Kosty was busy with albums presenting the music of Stephen Foster and Johann Strauss, along with Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite and Gershwin's Concerto in F with Oscar Levant. He also conducted a "Pons-Kostelanetz Concert" album for his wife, the soprano Lily Pons.

Alternative early LP cover

Columbia recorded both volumes of Musical Comedy Favorites in its main recording venue of the time, Liederkranz Hall, which Kostelanetz favored as a recording studio. As he wrote in his biography, "To have played there is to be spoiled forever as far as acoustical standards are concerned." The sound on this LP is atmospheric, adding to the success of the production. When Columbia converted the old German music hall into a television studio later in the 1940s, Kostelanetz was unhappy. However, Liederkranz's successor, Columbia's 30th Street Studio, was hardly less successful as a setting for recordings.

I don't know who arranged the songs for this collection, although Kostelanetz said in his biography that his radio arrangers included Carroll Huxley, Nathan Van Cleave and George Bassman, mentioning some of the same songs included in this collection.

1956 LP cover

Let's Go Cat Dancing with Harry Geller

This Harry Geller LP is titled, For Cat Dancers Only, which begs the question, "What is cat dancing?"

Well, actually, I'm not sure. I was around when this record came out (1954), but I have no recollection of anyone using the term. (Then again, I was five at the time.)

The cover seems to want to align "cat dancer" with "cat burglar" by putting masks on the gyrating couple. Nor are the liner notes terribly informative. They tell us that the music will make you want to dance and the whole experience will turn you into "the coolest of cats." Apparently this makes you a "cat dancer."

Harry Geller's
disembodied head

The 10-inch album contains eight numbers, all from Geller's pen (he even takes credit for "Stagger Lee") and presumably in his arrangements. This riff-based music is actually highly appealing, being a particularly well played example of the big-band R&B that goes back at least as far as the Lionel Hampton band and its 1942 recording of "Flying Home." Closer to the date of Geller's recording, it is somewhat like the records of Freddie Mitchell and Todd Rhodes, who have appeared here in years past. The Geller band does have a more aggressive rhythm section, which is somewhat akin to the rock 'n' roll to come.

For Cat Dancers Only includes two accomplished vocals by a gravelly voiced singer who is unidentified, as are the fine instrumental soloists.

In 1954, Geller (1913-2008) had already been a big-band trumpet player (Goodman, Tommy Dorsey), an arranger for bands and many vocalists, including Frankie Laine, and an A&R executive for Mercury and RCA Victor. He later worked extensively in television as a composer and conductor.

For Cat Dancers Only isn't seen that often in the record racks, but its successor, New York, New York, is fairly common. UPDATE: fellow blogger Ernie has contributed his transfer of the New York, New York LP - link in the comments.

You also may come across The Eddy Duchin Story LP, which he conducted, and Play, Gypsy, Play, which came to us from the "Fiery Mandolins of Harry Geller."

Patti Clayton and Bob Carroll

As a bonus, I've added a Geller single to the download. It dates from 1950, during his time at Mercury. One side is "Golden Sails on a Sea of Blue" with a smooth vocal by Bob Carroll. There is more information about Carroll on my other blog, where he was featured several years ago.

The other side of the single contains a peculiar quasi-folk song called "The Monkey Coachman," with vocal by the excellent Patti Clayton, who was doing radio work at the time. The songwriter was Michael Brown, whose best known work involved Lizzie Borden taking an ax and giving her mother forty whacks.

I was inveigled into transferring this record by reader and contributor Eric, who requested it some time ago, perhaps in an effort to learn cat dancing. I am happy to oblige, belatedly.

Mid-Century Music by Howard Swanson, Roger Goeb and Ben Weber

When I posted Howard Swanson's Short Symphony a few years ago, I promised to revisit his oeuvre for the blog, and now (after a little prodding) I am making good.

This particular American Recording Society disc also contains what I believe to be the first recordings of music by Roger Goeb and Ben Weber  - and fine pieces they are.

This release dates from 1950. The sessions were probably held in that year or possibly 1949.

I am indebted to musicologist Derek Katz for providing information about the provenance of these works. All three were presented in concerts of the Festival of Contemporary American Music at Columbia University's McMillan Theatre in 1947 and 1950. Details on each below.

Howard Swanson - Seven Songs

Howard Swanson

Swanson (1907-78) is perhaps best known for his vocal music, and among those pieces for his settings of the poetry of Langston Hughes. This collection includes three of his five settings of Hughes' verse, including the most famous, "The Negro Looks at Rivers." These are highly accomplished compositions, both subtle and evocative.

Helen Thigpen

Also in this collection are settings of Carl Sandburg, Vachel Lindsay and Edwin Markham. A detailed article on Swanson's song settings is in the download.

The artists presenting these selections are soprano Helen Thigpen and pianist David Allen. The versatile Thigpen was previously heard here in excerpts from Porgy and Bess. I haven't been able to turn up any information about David Allen.

Per Derek's research, the Swanson songs were performed by Thigpen and Allen at the opening concert of the 6th Festival of Contemporary American Music, on May 18, 1950. A New York Times review is in the download.

Roger Goeb - Prairie Songs for Woodwind Quintet

Roger Goeb

In common with all the works on this record, Goeb's Prairie Songs are both skillful and enjoyable. They are written in the then-common Americana style. The fluid performances are by the Five-Wind Ensemble.

The Goeb had been performed by that group at a Festival of Contemporary American Music concert on May 18, 1947. At the time, the then-new ensemble consisted of Ralph Eichar, flute, Lois Wann, oboe, Milton Shapiro, clarinet, David Manchester, bassoon, and John Barrows, horn. Derek has provided a Times review of the concert, which is in the download.

Goeb (1914-97) had been a pupil of Nadia Boulanger, Otto Luening and Herbert Elwell. At mid-century he was entering a productive phase that would have as a highlight the premiere and recording of his Symphony No. 3 by Leopold Stokowski.

The download also includes a Bruce Duffie interview with Goeb.

Ben Weber - Concert Aria after Solomon, Op. 29

Ben Weber by Roger Tréfousse

The largely self-taught Weber (1916-79) was one of the first American composers to adopt the twelve-tone method, although his music remained lyrical and accessible. This quality is well demonstrated in his Concert Aria after Solomon, a setting from the Song of Songs.

Bethany Beardslee

This performance is by soprano Bethany Beardslee, making the first of many appearances in recordings of contemporary music. Her complete command of this unfamiliar music is remarkable.

Although the players are unidentified on the LP, the performance at the 1950 Festival of American Contemporary Music included the Five-Wind Ensemble along with Broadus Erle and Claus Adam of the Fine Arts Quartet, so they perhaps are on this recording. The conductor here is Frank Brieff, rather than Saul Schechtmann, who led the Festival performance. Brieff was a former viola player under Toscanini in the NBC Symphony. He would become the music director of the New Haven Symphony in 1952.

The download includes reviews of the live performance from the Times and the Brooklyn Eagle. If you like this music, be sure to read the affectionate remembrance of the reclusive and eccentric Weber by his student, the composer Roger Tréfousse.

Thanks again to Derek for his help with this post.

Second LP cover

Menotti, Thomson and Luening Reups - Plus Much More

Today, two of my favorite records of American music newly remastered and reupped by request - Gian Carlo Menotti's Sebastian ballet suite, Virgil Thomson's The River and Otto Luening's Prelude on a Hymn Tune by William Billings and Two Symphonic Interludes.

Plus there are a variety of bonus uploads that have appeared in the comments to recent posts, courtesy of frequent contributors Eric and David.

Details below. On all items, go to the comments on the original post for the link.

Menotti - Sebastian Ballet Suite

Dimitri Mitropoulos led members of the Philadelphia Orchestra in this, the first recording of music from Menotti's 1944 ballet Sebastian. The transfer comes from the 78 set on Columbia first issued in 1944.

The performances are all that one could wish and the sound is good. It even has a typical Alex Steinweiss cover. The original post is here.

Thomson - The River, Luening - Prelude and Symphonic Interludes

Side one of this LP contains one of Virgil Thomson's best known works, The River, a suite derived from the music from Pare Lorentz's 1938 documentary on the Mississippi, in its first recording, led by Walter Hendl.

Also on the early ARS album are fine works by Otto Luening, conducted by the estimable American expatriate conductor, Dean Dixon - the Prelude on a Hymn Tune by William Billings and Two Symphonic Interludes, again in first recordings.

Here is a link to the original post.

Bonus Uploads

My friends David Federman and Eric have left behind bonuses in the comments to a number of recent posts. The items of interest are as follows.

Under First Recordings of Piston and MacDowell from the Boston Pops - Eric provided a recording of Piston's Violin Sonata with the composer and Louis Krasner, plus MacDowell's Indian Suite under Howard Barlow and a recording of "To a Wild Rose."

Under Remembering Johnny Mandel and Ida Haendel - David provided two 24-selection tributes to Mandel as a great songwriter; Eric added the album Bill Perkins Plays Johnny Mandel. Eric also provided several solo selections by Ida Haendel.

Under Jack Jones, Plus Margaret Whiting and Bob Manning Reups - Eric added Jones' This Love of Mine and There's Love & There's Love.

Under Gordon MacRae in The Student Prince and The Merry Widow - Eric contributed Mario Lanza's stereo version of The Student Prince.

Thanks as always to Eric and David!

The Sounds of Les Baxter Selling Spark Plugs

This is one of my occasional posts devoted to promotional records, usually ones literally singing the praises of some mundane product line. In this one, we get to hear Les Baxter and three vocal quartets intone hymns to spark plugs and oil filters.

The Sounds of Selling was a 1962 effort from the AC plugs and filters people aimed at the good folks who retailed their products. The object was to convince them that AC was putting some advertising muscle behind their wares, the better to drive demand to the retailers' doors.

From AC's 1963 print campaign

Today, of course, you could send the merchants a link to a website where they could watch and listen to the ad spots. Sixty years ago, you sent them a record, which worked well enough for the radio spots. The TV commercials, however, were missing the visuals so required some explanation of what was going on, which was inevitably clumsy.

Cy Harrice

Fortunately, AC - or more accurately, its ad agency - employed the distinctive voice of Cy Harrice as the voice of the product line. Harrice had been a radio announcer and newscaster for many years, becoming best known for his commanding delivery of the final line of the commercials for Pall Mall cigarettes - "And they are mild!" Later on, his voice became just as associated with AC's wares.

On this record, he introduces three TV spots, two for spark plugs and one for oil filters. The latter tries to interest women in the health of their oil filters by mocking stereotypical "female" behavior - gossip, etc. I can't imagine why the agency thought this was a good idea. These TV ads were set to appear on the TV's Laramie, one of the then-popular Westerns.

Also on the LP are three radio spots featuring vocal quartets - the Modernaires, who began in the 1930s; the Sportsmen, who started in the 40s, and the more up-to-date if hardly hip Kirby Stone Four. The nostalgic approach is understandable - adults were buying spark plugs, not kids. The pleasant results all present some variation on AC's "Action Song."

Les Baxter in action

Vocalist-turned-arranger Les Baxter provided the musical background for these spots, or at least he arranged for the arrangements to come into being. He was notorious for not writing the charts ascribed to him, farming them out to others.

The AC spots take up one side of the record. The other is devoted to half of Baxter's latest LP, Voices in Rhythm. By this time, Baxter had abandoned the mood music/exotica realm for an impossibly bland, Ray Conniff-style vocal approach to such fare as "Pennies from Heaven." The results aren't especially good. I did replace the mono tracks found on The Sounds of Selling with stereo versions derived from my copy of the Voices in Rhythm LP.

Bios and photos are on the back of the Sounds of Selling album (below and in the download).

Click to enlarge

At Ernie's, Christmas Has Come 5,000 Times in 15 Years

My great pal and sometimes contributor Ernie Haynes runs the web's most extensive and longest lasting site devoted to Christmas music. Just this morning, Ernie put up his five thousandth post, covering the 15 years his blog has been in existence. To give you an idea of how much work that is, I will reach ONE thousand posts in a few months, spread out over 12 years.

To make this even more impressive, Ernie generally only publishes in December (actually, from Thanksgiving into January) and July. During the Christmas season, he posts an album a day; in July he publishes "Christmas in July" music that he derives from singles and non-holiday LPs.

The annual July orgy (poor choice of words, I know) is on now, so be sure to make it over to his site. As a special bonus, he's been posting different versions of the Nutcracker Suite every day - so far, Steinberg, Rodziński, Ludwig, Grüner-Hegge, Karajan and today's selection - the "Amsterdam National Symphony Orchestra - Peter Haas, conductor," which is almost certainly one of those budget-label pseudonyms. (Rodziński is my favorite.)

Congratulations, Ernie!

First Recordings of Piston and MacDowell from the Boston Pops

Today's post is devoted to two important first recordings of American music made by the Boston Pops and Arthur Fiedler in the 1930s. First is Edward MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2, recorded in 1936 with soloist Jesús María Sanromá. The second is a suite from Walter Piston's ballet The Incredible Flutist, from 1939. My transfers come from one of the pseudynonymous 1950s RCA Camden reissue LPs, which ascribed the performances to the "Festival Concert Orchestra." I was not fooled.

I also have a bonus for you - Piston's orchestration of the Moonlight Sonata's first movement, as recorded in abridged form by the Pops circa 1954.

MacDowell's Piano Concerto No. 2

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908) was considered the leading American composer for quite some time, and many think the second piano concerto of 1890 is his best composition. The piece is sometimes likened to Grieg's concerto, although to me it is most reminiscent of Liszt. A high-Romantic work to be sure, and very effective in meeting its aims.

MacDowell lived in Boston from 1888 to 1896, and appeared with the Boston Symphony as a pianist. When this recording was made in 1936, he was still famous, enough so that he was memorialized on a 1940 postage stamp. Today his music is seldom heard, with the possible exception of his piano suite Woodland Sketches and its "To a Wild Rose."

Jesús María Sanromá

Considering the composer's renown, it is perhaps surprising that the second concerto was not recorded until 1936. But the performance by the Boston forces and particularly the soloist is all that one could hope for.

Sanromá (1902-84) was born in Puerto Rico and educated at the New England Conservatory. Soon after graduation he became the Boston Symphony's pianist, remaining in that post until 1940. Victor recorded him fairly extensively during this period, including Gershwin and Paderewski concertos with Fiedler; Bartók, Grieg and Rachmaninoff concertos with Charles O'Connell; music of Hindemith with the composer, and the Chausson Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet with Heifetz.

Piston's The Incredible Flutist

Walter Piston, Arthur Fiedler, Hans Wiener
and designer Marco Montedoro, 1938

Walter Piston (1894-1976) also had strong ties to Boston and the Boston Symphony. Educated at Harvard, he taught there from 1926-60. His students included many illustrious names among the succeeding generation of American composers - Leonard Bernstein, Elliott Carter, Irving Fine, Harold Shapero, John Harbison and many others.

Hans Wiener as
the Incredible Flutist

Piston's first symphony was premiered by the BSO in 1938, the same year as the ballet The Incredible Flutist was staged by the Pops. His Symphony No. 3 later was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation and Symphony No. 6 by the BSO for its centennial. The orchestra recorded the latter work in 1956 under Charles Munch.

The Incredible Flutist is the only stage work in Piston's catalogue. It is an entirely delightful piece of music that must have made for an effective ballet. Piston wrote the scenario with choreographer Hans Wiener, who also took the role of the flutist. The setting is a marketplace; a circus comes to town with its main attraction - the magical flutist.

While Fiedler and his forces recorded a suite from the ballet in 1939, they technically did not give the public premiere of the work in that form - the Pittsburgh Symphony and Fritz Reiner did so in 1940.

Beethoven-Piston - Moonlight Sonata

I don't know the background of Piston's orchestration of the first movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight" sonata, only that the Pops and Fiedler recorded it in abridged form circa 1954. RCA Victor put it out on a single that I believe was backed by Piston's orchestration of Debussy's "Clair de Lune." I remastered the Beethoven transcription from a lossless needle drop on Internet Archive, but the Debussy was nowhere to be found.

Like The Incredible Flutist, the Beethoven arrangement is an  attractive work.

The sound from the 1930s items came up nicely, although the piano overshadows the orchestra in the MacDowell concerto. The Moonlight Sonata orchestration sounds good as well.

Remembering Johnny Mandel and Ida Haendel

Two significant musicians have passed away this week - composer-arranger Johnny Mandel and violinist Ida Haendel.

In remembrance of Mandel, who has not appeared on this blog before, I've transferred the soundtrack to The Americanization of Emily, his first big success.

As a tribute to Haendel, I have remastered her classic account of Brahms' Violin Concerto, first posted a decade ago.

Johnny Mandel

I first became aware of Johnny Mandel when my father brought home Frank Sinatra's 1961 album Ring-a-Ding-Ding, which was arranged by Mandel. It was the Voice's first outing on his own Reprise label.

I loved the sound of that record - still do. Mandel was not that well known at the time, but soon would gain fame as a songwriter. His first hit was "Emily," the theme from the 1964 Julie Andrews-James Garner war film The Americanization of Emily, with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song enjoyed a particularly graceful interpretation by Sinatra on his Softly, as I Leave You album.

The Americanization of Emily soundtrack LP is typical of film music of the time, with a few themes that recur, notably "Emily" but also a march that sounds like it was inspired by Walton's Orb and Sceptre - fitting for a war film set in England.

At the 1964 Academy Awards: Paul Francis Webster,
Natalie Wood and Johnny Mandel

The popularity of "Emily" would soon be topped by Mandel's "The Shadow of Your Smile," the theme from 1965's The Sandpiper, with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. That song won both an Academy Award and a Grammy, the latter for Tony Bennett's interpretation, which Mandel arranged.

Mandel in 1953

As was common back then, Mandel's career grew out of his big band experience as a brass player for Buddy Rich and Jimmy Dorsey, among others. He worked on TV's Your Show of Shows for a while, then on revues and floorshows before securing a chance to write music for the Susan Hayward film I Want to Live! in 1958. That was a jazz-oriented score, as was 1963's Drums of Africa, improbably starring Frankie Avalon.

He continued to work in films, including Harper, The Russians Are Coming, the Russian Are Coming and notably MASH, with its famous theme song, "Suicide Is Painless." He also wrote a few other hit songs, including "A Time for Love" and "Close Enough for Love."

In addition to his Ring-a-Ding-Ding arrangements, Mandel collaborated with many well-known singers, including David Allyn and Sue Raney, two favorites of mine.

Mandel's death Monday, at 94, came on the same day as his fellow Your Show of Shows vet, comic actor-producer Carl Reiner, who was 98.

The Jazzwax blog has an extensive interview with Mandel about his career here - well worth reading.

Ida Haendel

Ida Haendel was a most accomplished musician who never quite achieved the great renown her gifts might have warranted. Her recordings of the Brahms concerto with Sergiu Celibidache and the Sibelius with Paavo Berglund have long been my favorites.

She does have many admirers other than me. Her recording of the Brahms in its original pressing (at left) has sold at auction for nearly $1,000. (My transfer was from the plebeian American pressing, although I used the HMV covers for the post in preference to the generic US variety.)

You can read more about her in my post from 2010, or go to this remembrance from earlier today by critic Rob Cowan.